In the latest study looking at the link between reading to children and success in schooling, results have shown a positive correlation for babies as young at 1 year old excelling in education up to nine years later.
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Leading the study was Michelle Brown, a CSU post-doctoral research fellow in the School of Teacher Education, who said these were the first findings of their kind when looking long term.
"We've known for a while book reading with preschool and primary aged children supports later language and literacy success, however this latest study provides statistics on even younger kids of 1-2 years old," she said.
"There are many initiatives here and overseas encouraging parents to read to young kids but there's never been research for the long term impact, and this study found that book reading with 1-2-year-old children supported academic achievement for language, literacy and even numeracy up to 8-9 years later."
Dr Brown said the results of the study could have an impact of key aspects of future policy making.
"These sorts of answers will have implications for policy makers, specifically relating to these children's future employment opportunities, the positives for mental health, and overall quality of life," she said.
"Not only that though, it gives support and peace of mind to parents, teachers and even grandparents that what they are doing is beneficial, it encourages then to keep reading to their children."
In other news:
Wagga City Library have their own programs focused on boosting reading to children, library manager Claire Campbell said.
"We have a group called Baby Bounce three times a year for four weeks at a time, which involves songs and rhymes and books," she said.
"Babies learn to speak by vocalising sounds so by hearing what their parents are saying out loud in a focused environment really helps."
The classes are aimed at 0-12 month olds, with an alternative - 'Storytime' - designed for children up to 5 years old.
"Storytime has four sessions per week with story reading and different interactive activities," Ms Campbell said.
According to Ms Campbell, the benefits of the programs are far-reaching.
"We do hear from teachers that they can tell who has been read to as a child, they have better interactions and know how to explain things better," she said.
"We feel really strongly about it, these are our future workers, politicians, artists, scientists and dreamers.
"It's not enough to have nice books on a shelf, we want them engaged with and opened and loved."
As technology evolves, Dr Brown noted the importance between hard copy books versus e-books.
"We are in a digital age, so this kind of difference is something we need to explore further to compare e-books with paper copies," she said.
"One thing I would encourage parents to do when using e-books is to still engage in eye contact to have joint attention with the baby, which means making sure you're bringing iPad or kindle up to eye level so the baby has the opportunity to look into your eyes.
"We know eye contact is a requirement for joint attention, which is a strong predictor of later language skills and social engagements."
Wagga mum Sarah Sloan said she found the Baby Bounce sessions of great value.
"I like Baby bounce because they do nursery rhymes as well as reading, and all the babies get to interact," she said.
"I've been taking my 6-month-old boy, Cameron, to every class since he was 11 weeks old and for me, especially as a new mum, classes like Baby Bounce are really great to meet people of similar age and learn the ropes of parenting which then carries on to a happy, healthy child."
Mrs Sloan said the joy her baby gets out of reading is noticeable.
"My little one loves it, as soon as a book gets brought out he'll try to get a hold of it," she said.
"Everyday I read to him, and socialising is a huge part of it too.
"Reading in groups allows them to learn alongside others at the same level, and we as parents can learn how to read to them to get the best results."
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